Taking your business down the insolvency route should always be a last resort. Frances Coulson (pictured right), President of the insolvency trade body R3, has shared her top ten tips on how your business can avoid insolvency.

The most successful sales people are those who see themselves as entreprenuerial region managers. In an independent and constant method they profitably exhaust the region potential. In order to do this they need to gain widespread knowledge of their sales region clients and also be able to carry out good PR work.

In these days of rising costs incurred by attempts to win new customers, the necessity for good client relations is, at present, exceedingly important both for the service industry and industrial concerns and as a result forms part of any good sales training. Experts believe that companies in the service industry could elevate their profits by 100%, if they succeed in stopping 5% more customers from going over to the opposition.

Having survived two recessions and read about many more, writes David Rawlings of www.businesscarfinanceltd.co.uk, I know that this industry is one of the most cyclical. Typically we all become depressive as sales slow and costs increase, then we toast our amazing foresight when residual values improve and interest rates fall.

So instead of ignoring or joining in with the doom mongers use the current financial situation to your advantage and enjoy the benefits of good fleet management.

Nearly one in five workers want to work from home but are being prevented from doing so by their employer, says the TUC as it offers five reasons for businesses to try out home working to mark National Work From Home Day (Friday 24th Sept).

Too many organizations use too much energy. This is simply because they are not looking closely and systematically enough at their energy usage. A powerful new tool will allow companies to reduce costs considerably. The BSI Kitemark® scheme for Energy Reduction Verification (ERV) will verify and certify those organizations that achieve a reduction in carbon emissions through lower energy consumption. Businesses will not only be able to cut costs, they will also be contributing to the global efforts on fighting climate change.